asked Her Majesty's Government:How they propose to take account of the health and safety implications of the use of foetal cells to treat American Parkinson's disease patients, given that these therapies have led to outcomes worse than the disease. [HL1228]

A clinical trial involving the use of foetal cells in the treatment of American Parkinson's disease patients has shown adverse results in a small number of cases. This technique is not currently used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease in the United Kingdom.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will arrange for details of the research using foetal cells in Parkinson's disease treatments to be placed before the Select Committee on Stem Cell Research; and whether copies will be placed in the Library of the House. [HL1229]

A clinical trial of the use of foetal cells in the treatment of Parkinson's disease has recently been reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. Copies of this report have been placed in the Library.The House of Lords Select Committee was set up to report on issues connected with human cloning and embryonic stem cell research. It will be a matter for the committee to decide what evidence is called for.